Fresh start produces competitive City team

It's not a big secret that City High's girls soccer team has struggled for a while. The Little Hawks reached the state tournament three years in a row (2001-03) by compiling records of 17-4, 15-4 and 15-4. They have not had a winning record since. The last two seasons have been particularly difficult, each one producing just two victories and a number of lopsided losses.

Last year's two wins came against the two Waterloo public schools, which finished a combined 1-31. City scored 10 goals in each of those matches. Throw out those two games and the Little Hawks were outscored 63-8 in their other 16 matches.

So it wasn't just the losses, it was the inability to score and be competitive in games in a league that has a bundle of teams that regularly qualify for the state tournament. The MVC boasts the current Class 3A champ Kennedy and 2A champ Cedar Rapids Xavier.

City has been plagued by injuries in recent seasons, and that exposed a lack of depth that's been a continuing issue. City's track team is so popular that it gets massive participation. Every year a handful of kids try to compete in both sports, usually the top athletes like Jessica Yagla a few years ago and Erin Danielson now. Coaches cooperate and try to work it out, but the logistics are difficult and it's not hard to imagine the first priority is not soccer.

After last year's final game, then-coach Torsten Opitz expressed optimism that a big senior class and better numbers among the underclassmen would lead to improvement. But Opitz resigned last summer, and City hired Clear Creek Amana coach Sara Bleeker to take over.

What's happened is nothing short of remarkable. City is 3-4, admittedly nothing to write home about, but it has been competitive in every match including close losses to Kennedy and Xavier. It beat then-2A 10th-ranked Union of LaPorte City 2-0 on the road to open the season. Its other losses have come to good MAC teams, North Scott and Pleasant Valley, on the road.

Teams don't turn around overnight, so the record still may not look gaudy at the end of the season. But this is a team with which to be reckoned and one that can set the program up for future success. How did it happen?

The seniors started things with a meeting after last season ended.

"We got together after the last season and we kind of wanted a resurrection," Corbin Scholz said. They gathered for pick-up games during the summer and kept playing.

After being hired at summer's end, Bleeker took steps immediately to get to know her team and create some common ground. She instituted team-bonding activities. She made an effort to meet players at weight lifting and through open gyms. What she found might surprise you.

"You could just see the excitement," Bleeker said.

"A lot of people coming off injuries are ready to make up for the season they lost last year," senior Molly Powell-Littler said. "We had a lot of disappointments last year, and this is our fresh start. We have a great new coach. We have incoming freshmen that have been actually on a team. I think people are really devoting themselves because we see this as our opportunity to start building a foundation and start improving as a team."

Never underestimate the resilience of youth. Against overwhelming odds and with the backdrop of disappointing season after disappointing season, this group turned the page.

Nine seniors knew this was their last chance.

"If this is going to happen for the seniors, it's going to happen now," Powell-Littler said.

Incoming freshmen saw a chance to play varsity minutes and prepared for just that opportunity. That created competition for positions and playing time. Practices were vigorous and focused. No one was just going through the motions.

"Everyone on the team seems very excited for the season and very excited for any practice or any game or just being together," Bleeker said. "If you didn't have that, then there would be a lot to work on."

The biggest hurdle was overcoming a mindset that a three-year record of 11-42-1 can produce. When the other team scores first, do players automatically think, "Here we go again?" Or do they respond with some fight?

"We have really good chemistry this year," Powell-Littler said. "That's also been a big problem before, I mean, frustration throughout the team. It comes from the season as a whole. When you're not doing well, it's hard to stay positive. But now we see the strengths and weaknesses in each other and we see each other more as a team, not each individual player playing for themselves."

A new coach, a motivated senior class, more quality depth and a sprinkle of much-needed enthusiasm has produced a competitive team. Scholz said other teams will see that.

"I think they see our scores against really good schools like Kennedy and Xavier, and it kind of surprises them," Scholz said. "Teams that were beating us like 9-1 last year like Kennedy, we stuck with them and gave them a really hard time."

Bleeker acknowledges it's a first step and she takes no solace in moral victories. But there's a whole different feeling around the team. That produces confidence and that helps with everything.

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Fresh start produces competitive City team

It's not a big secret that City High's girls soccer team has struggled for a while. The Little Hawks reached the state tournament three years in a row (2001-03) by compiling records of 17-4, 15-4 and